As illustrated in FIG. 1, as the demand for wireless services grows, multiple wireless networks may operate in a common area. FIG. 1 is an illustration of multiple wireless networks operating in a common area, such as in a University environment. One network 101 (illustrated by a mixed dash and dotted line) is for faculty and administrators. A second network 102 (illustrated by a dashed line) is for students. A third network 103 (illustrated by a dotted line) is for facilities and security and a fourth network 104 (illustrated by a solid line) is for guests and visitors. Each of these networks 101, 102, 103, 104 (10) may have different requirements, such as quality of service (QoS) and security.
These networks 10 overlap as illustrated in FIG. 1. In area 121, all four networks are present. In other areas 122 and 123, two of the networks are present. To reduce the costs of implementing multiple networks in a common network area, common equipment (hardware and software) can be used to implement these networks.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of an access point (AP) 14 running multiple 802.11 type wireless networks. The access point 14 and the wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 161, 162, 163, 164 (16) in the AP's effective operating area form a basic service set (BSS) 18. As illustrated, the BSS 18 has an associated BSS identification 1 (BSSID 1) code of “AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA”. The AP 14 is also supporting four (4) virtual wireless local area networks (V-WLANs) 12, V-WLAN 1 121 (faculty and administrators), V-WLAN 2 122 (students), V-WLAN 3 123 (facilities and security) and V-WLAN 4 124 (guests and visitors). Each V-WLAN 12 has an associated extension service set (ESS) linking the AP's portion of the V-WLAN 12, such as by layer 2, to other APs' portions of the V-WLAN 12. Each ESS has an associated ID, ESSID 1, ESSID 2, ESSID 3 and ESSID 4. The presentation of each of the multiple V-WLANs to the WTRUs 16 by the AP 14 can be referred to as a virtual AP (VAP). The use of VAPs reduces the number of physical APs 14 that are needed to implement multiple networks and allows for reduced interference and collisions.
Although the ESSIDs provide some segregation between the V-WLANs 12, different service requirements, such as QoS, are not readily segregated by ESSID. Accordingly, it is desirable to have alternate approaches for segregating (virtual) networks.